This years Royal Rumble is shaping up to be the most unpredictable match of recent years, boasting the likes of The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins among the contenders.
With all eyes fixed on the top name superstars in the Royal Rumble match it got me thinking, what if there was a swerve? What if these superstars are merely there to create feuds with each other going into Wrestlemania?
Maybe this is the year WWE decides to elevate someone from mid-card to main event, or perhaps someone be given a chance to relive their former glory?
Here are my 5 outsider picks for the Royal Rumble match.
The Miz
He’s already walked into Wrestlemania as champion before, and retained his title, are WWE ready to give him another shot at the big time? 2016 was an excellent year for The Miz, which saw him carry the Intercontinental Title over his shoulder for the majority of it, bringing interest, prestige and publicity to the second tier title.
Perhaps the company are ready to reward such excellent showings with a step up to the WWE title? He is one of if not the best natural heels in professional wrestling, the ultimate bad guy. Whilst he definitely has his critics, nobody could deny his hard work over the last year, and many have overlooked him for the Royal Rumble, whereas I think he’s definitely one to watch.
Baron Corbin
WWE obviously have big plans for Corbin, and as winner of the 2016 Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal that was the first indication he’s on a rise to the top. Although he seemed to stall somewhat in the few months following, the later half of the year saw him edge closer towards a main event place, even up to this present day he put on a good match against John Cena, which could be served as a testing the waters of his main event status. Alongside Styles and Cena in the ring, Corbin didn’t look a touch out of place.
Corbin is a legitimate athlete, has the look, the size and personality, he ticks all the right boxes of ‘upper management’ if that is to be believed. Wouldn’t that be a HUGE push if ‘The Lone Wolf’ was able to stand tall in a ring ahead of Goldberg, Undertaker and Brock Lesnar.
Bray Wyatt
If you ask fans which superstar they’re surprised hasn’t held a singles title yet, Bray would be one of the top answers. In my opinion one of the most inconsistently booked characters on the roster, with so many stop start pushes it almost looked like his character would be unable to recover. Even going back to Wrestlemania 30 and Wrestlemania 31, Wyatt had so much momentum built up for both feuds against Cena and Undertaker respectively, yet came up short in both bouts and fell back down the ladder.
Now with Randy Orton as an ally, this would be a great time to propel Bray to a main event spot and see if he can maintain the faith people have had in him since the astonishing birth of his Wyatt character.
Kurt Angle
What an honour for Kurt Angle to be announced as the first inductee to the WWE Hall of Fame class if 2017! Since the reveal, fans have been campaigning for Angle to have one last match in WWE. The whole reason he was released in the first place was down to the fact Vince was worried about his health and didn’t want to clear him to wrestle for WWE.
Since then Kurt has cleaned himself up, with successful spells in TNA and the indies, and I had the privilege of seeing him wrestle in October of 2016, he still ‘had it’.
Should Angle win the Royal Rumble, we’d possibly get a match the wrestling world know works well, in Kurt Angle vs AJ Styles. With The Rock returning a few years ago for one last run with the WWE Title, maybe Kurt could be well in contention for one last run himself! It’d be fantastic to see Angle, Goldberg, Lesnar, Undertaker in the same ring at the Royal Rumble.
Would WWE have the trust in Angle’s health to give him such an important part to place in Wrestlemania, or would they rather him just bow out gracefully with the Hall of Fame induction.
Samoa Joe
Strongly rumoured to be a part of the 30 man Royal Rumble, I see logically a Samoa Joe win to be a success either way. He would put on a great match with either current champion in AJ Styles (who he has worked with numerous times before) and the similar sized Kevin Owens (despite Joe being a bit smaller).
The big argument against this is that it would mean Joe leapfrogging other superstars who have been on the main roster a lot longer, and throwing the former NXT Champion into the main event of Wrestlemania months after debuting could be a bit of an overkill.
Still, Joe has the experience, he has the all round ability and is such a diverse worker he could work against almost anyone at Wrestlemania. I for one wouldn’t turn my head at Joe being a main contender for winner of the Royal Rumble.
Who do you think will win the WWE Royal Rumble?
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Note: There will be no UKayfabe next week as I will be in Tenerife. Enjoy the Royal Rumble everyone!
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